Grass, Flowers, and Guns

[Stoic]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

You can call Naboo a peaceful planet, but there's always going to be conflicts. Stoic understood this, but no one expected to have conflict every time you walk into a bar or even a market. Naboo was a lovely place, Stoic knew it for its beauty and government. Although he wasn't in to politics and such, Naboo's government was different. Some didn't like a monarchy while some did. It was what balanced the galaxy. But something can't be balanced, you need a greater weapon sometimes.

Stoic wasn't doing anything special on Naboo. Just looking for a new ship since his lost a few parts during a fight with space pirates. They knew how to mess with him, every few days, they would make a fight with him. However, they shot him down today. He kinda just left the crash site so the Naboo forces couldn't find him. It wasn't breaking the law, just abandoning something, right?

He found himself walking in the streets of Naboo. He saw towering palaces and other buildings. Some looked like they were being built while other were just sitting there making Naboo look powerful. Stoic came to a building that looked like a bar or restaurant. He could use a drink so he walked inside. As he entered, species of different kinds were seen. Humans were the majority though. The first thing he would do is order. Walking up to the counter, a tall man gave a look. He was waiting for Stoic to order it seemed. "Wine, don't care what kind." he said with an angry voice. He liked to intimidate rather than be intimidated.

 

[Felicity Mason]

Felicity had been studying at the Royal Naboo Academy for years and after only a short time, she'd become something like a legend. Brains, beauty and... a mean right hook. Nobody messed with Naboo's own Princess of Winds. Not that many were stupid enough to try. She was the Queens daughter, the eldest one. Everybody wanted to be on her good side for that very reason. Funny how her former bullies could switch sides overnight after her Mother was elected into office. No doubt they'd been put under pressure from their own families. When once the other teenagers called her 'cold', they now called her mysterious. When she was once 'weird', she was now unique. When they'd made fun of her freckles before, they now considered it a mark of beauty.

Kids were cruel... until they needed you. Just like all the adults in her life. Just like the politicians her Mother had to deal with. Everyone was the same... or so she thought. Then she met Owain. He was never kind to her just because he thought he had to be. He never tried to butter her up. He was blunt, honest, and mean. And she'd fallen for him hard. It didn't take much. He teased her and scoffed at her. And she'd found his brutal honesty to be refreshing. They could bicker back and forth and no matter how far he went, it was never too far. He could never be too harsh.

He wasn't here right now. He was on Naboo somewhere, but not here. Nobody was with her. It had been her final day at the Academy, and there was nobody to walk her home to the Palace. Had Mother forgotten to send her an escort? She honestly hadn't thought that after the recent string of kidnappings (honestly, being kidnapped was just a normal Sunday morning for her) her Mother would be so careless. Well, The Queen was a busy woman. No doubt she still had a pile of work a mile high on her desk. Mother was never not working. Felicity doubted she knew how to relax even if she tried.

Well, thankfully, Felicity had one thing going for her. The Academy uniform allowed her to blend in. Nobody would even look the direction of yet another young student on her way home. For the last time. It was a little sad, but she'd met every requirement for graduation and there was no reason for her to stick around. Besides all that, Mother had arranged for The Baroness Magrath to take her in for a while. She would be her ward, learning everything a girl of her birth needed to know to survive in high society. Felicity was really not looking forward to it, but at least she would got out from under her Mothers nose for a little while. For all she knew, maybe the Baroness would be able to teach her something more useful than the proper way to prepare tea for guests. A girl could always hope.

"Miss Felicity I-"
"Go away, Ranse," the Princess snapped, throwing her arm out as she walked to catch the young nobleman in the stomach with her leather book case, "I didn't wanna go out with you last week, I won't do it this week."

The boy let out a rather undignified 'Oomph' and curled up on the cold hard cement. Felicity narrowed her sharp blue eyes as she watched him for a moment, then she turned on her heel and kept going, the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. Stupid boy. She knew what he'd wanted. It was what he'd asked her once a week for the past year and a half. Now she wasn't going to have to deal with it anymore. She'd be out of here this time next week. She stuck her nose up in the air, smoothed out her dark grey uniform blazer, dusted off her skirt and was on her way. On to bigger and better things.

[member="Stoic"]

 

[Stoic]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

Stoic thought about what royalty was like. You wake up and get to be treated fancy? It was something stupid to think about since he was independent but still, he wondered... After he was done with the thought, the tall man or bartender notified him the drink was ready. "Five credits." the bartender commanded. Stoic pulled out five credits and slid them across the counter. He should've knew wine would be expensive at a bar. He just went on with his days and gulped the wine down before slamming the glass onto the counter about to walk out.

On his way out, something touched him. No, grabbed him and turned him around. It was a masked man about to punch him. Fortunately, Stoic had his armor on his upper and lower body, but he forgothis helmet at his ship. Stoic grabbed the fist of the masked man and brought his leg up to the masked man's hip. The masked man dodged Stoic's attack by moving back and countered with a kick of his own. Stoic was successfully kicked. So far that he landed outside. The distance he flew was a lot so he figured the man could use the force.

The masked man jumped outside and pulled his weapon. A standard blaster which probably wouldn't hurt Stoic too much. However, he didn't wait to be shot. Stoic jumped up reaching for his heavy blaster pistol, a more powerful blaster with a weight disadvantage. But he could use it well due to his strength. Stoic waited for the next move of the man as he checked the area for any civilians.

 

[Felicity Mason]

Felicity was one of those civilians. She froze on the spot, crisp blue eyes focused on the blaster in the younger mans hand. She knew that weapon. She'd watched Daddy and Uncle B clean and maintain their weapons many times. She'd been fascinated by it. Of course, she wasn't allowed to own a blaster of her own. Her Mother absolutely forbade it. Stupid, really. Her many kidnapping attempts (and successes) was proof enough that no body guard would really protect her. What she needed was some real firepower. The self defense classes her Father and Uncle B had given her only did so much. She could fight dirty, but she was almost always hopelessly outmatched when it came to an armed enemy. What were her fists supposed to do against an armed enemy?

Either way, the fighting on the streets of Naboo was a terrible sign. Her Mother would be furious! And more importantly, they were in her way! She stomped her foot, her expensive black heels clicking on the stone alley.

"Hey! What do you two think you're doing?" she snarled, shaking her blonde curls behind her shoulder, "Don't you know that fighting in Theed is strictly forbidden!?"


[member="Stoic"]

 

[Stoic]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

One civilian caught Stoic's eye. He didn't know much about the rulers of Naboo but you know a princess when you see one. "Great!" he growled as he watched the man slowly point his weapon the the princess. Stoic immediately aimed at the mans shoulder and fired. The man let out a blaster bolt at the girl before going down. In one go, Stoic shot the blaster out of his hand and let out a push of the force to get the girl out of the bolts way. If he could.

What would he do if he was tracked down because of a princess being shot in a fight he was in. It surely wouldn't be good. Stoic hoped he made a right move not knowing what the girl was capable of.

 

[Felicity Mason]

She felt the blaster fire before she heard it. That was the key. Daddy always said so. Her senses were, for the most part, pretty on point. It was the whole using the force thing that she didn't quite grasp. She was novice level at best. Thankfully, she didn't need that. She reacted just before the blaster bolt fired, dropping down to the ground. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite fast enough. The blaster bolt nicked the top of her left shoulder. She hissed, not quite feeling the pain yet. Barely more than a scratch really. At least, this time. Oh. This one was going to pay. With her uninjured arm, she swung her arm with her heavy book bag, hurling the leather case directly at the man that had shot her as he was reeling from the bolt through his shoulder. She watched her bag smack right into his face, dropping him like a ton of bricks.

"Serves you right, you- you- son of a sarlaac!"

It was about then that it really hit her that she'd seen this one use the Force. Another Force user? Well, in Theed they weren't that uncommon. Really, they were like minor celebrities. Everyone knew at least one. In fact, they were in the middle of construction on a temple here in this city!

..Wait, forget the Force user. Her shoulder stung like nobodies business! She hissed, clasping a hand over it.

[member="Stoic"]

 

[Stoic]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

A thought went through his head. Clever. Then, he realized the girl was injured. Stoic put his blaster in its holster and ran over to the princess. That's when he would kneel down and analyze the wound. Stoic would lift her hand up to see wound no matter what she had to say about it. An injured princess wasn't a good thing at the moment. No ship, no way to leave. "You need help." he stated. It was quite obvious but he didn't know what else to say.

 

[Felicity Mason]

[member="Stoic"]

Her eyes met his. Were it not for her experience with Owain, this contact would be something to make her blush. Not so long ago, she'd been completely inexperienced with the opposite gender. Sure, she'd dealt with boys from school attempting flirting, but nobody ever dared touch her. She didn't let them. This was no exception.

"How dare you?" she snapped, tearing her hand away, "You do not touch a Lady without her permission, do you understand me? Now this scratch will be fine. If you try to touch me again, however, I will scratch your eyes out."

 

[Stoic]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

Stoic jumped to her reaction. "If you say so, your majesty." he said chuckling. He stood back up holding his hand out offering to help her up. It was funny to him the way she reacted. He probably should've asked if it was okay to touch her but he was trying to help. "Just so you know, I didn't start the fight." he explained.

 

[Felicity Mason]

[member="Stoic"]

She could only assume he meant the 'your majesty' thing sarcastically. There wasn;t a way he could tell she was nobility just by looking at her. Not an ordinary space wizard like this! She bumped his offered hand away and pulled herself to her feet. Father wouldn't need the help, so she refused to need it either. She was trying really hard now to be strong.

"I don't care who started it! It should not have begun either way! The Queen has worked hard to ensure the streets are safe. What will she think when she heard about this?"

She was going to have to report it, of course when she got home. And this... whatever he was laying in the alley with a broken nose bleeding all over himself was going to need to be arrested and treated. She sighed, touching a button on her wrist communicator. It was designed for emergencies. It would send a signal directly to her majesties private police. They'd come, because she was the one calling. Princess Felicity Mason- the usual subject of kidnappings. It was already something of a joke amongst the Palace staff.

"Look, just stay here. When police arrive, you'll need to give your side of the story. Force this hurts," she grumbled, moving her hand to glance at it before covering it again. Looking at it. Bad idea.

 

[Stoic]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

Confused at the moment as what she just done, Stoic kept going with the conversation. "Hard work isn't going to keep me from protecting myself." he stopped hearing the question. "Hopefully, not of me." he chuckled crossing his arms. Stoic didn't like the idea of her pushing a button on her communicator. He didn't know what it meant or why but he backed up a little.

When she gave an order, or that's what he figured it was, he chuckled again. "Staying here would get me in deeper trouble than I probably already am. There's no need to go into details but that's that." Stoic paused uncrossing his arms to look at the wound again. "Are you sure you're fine? I know I don't look like the caring type but I usually do cleanup my messes if you wanna consider this my fault." he said offering to help.

 

[Felicity Mason]

Oh. So he was funny, hm? Well! She'll see just how funny he was when he was being questioned by her Majesties police! Well, okay, he was probably just going to have to give a statement, since Felicity had been present. Still, it was an irritating way to spend her afternoon. Not to mention needing to see the healers after this.

She pulled her blazer off, then unbuttoned the crisp white blouse underneath just enough to pull it down over her injured shoulder. Great. This was going to leave a mark. How... horrible. Mother was just starting to let her wear gowns that showed her shoulders! Now she had a huge ugly burn on one of them. What was she going to do at the next ball? She growled under her breath as he approached her again.

"Hands to yourself, Mister!" she snapped, "Don't think that just because I'm injured I'll let you just sneak a feel! I'm not that kind of school girl, you know!"

[member="Stoic"]

 

[Stoic]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

Stoic bursted out laughing to the comment. He then quickly stopped after turning serious again. "I'm not a pervert lady." he said with an annoyed tone. He walked over to a building and leaned his back on it crossing his arms.

After a few moments, he would yawn and look at the girl. "How old are you?" he asked cocking his head slightly. It was just question, and it just needed to be answered. Even if she didn't feel like answering it, there was time to pass before he had to high tail it out of there.

 

[Felicity Mason]

Hm. So maybe she was over reacting. Still, a girl couldn't be too careful. She'd met too many perverts in her life. She narrowed her sharp crystal blue eyes suspiciously as she stood up and walked over to the unconscious figure on the ground.

"Sixteen," she answered, snatching her book bag back up and aiming a swift kick to the unconscious mans ribs. Kick him while they're down. Daddy taught her that one. Served him right. "You're like, fourteen, right?"

Of course he wasn't, but mom taught her that when it came to guessing age, always guess lower than you think. It's polite.

[member="Stoic"]

 

[Stoic]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

Watching the young lady, Stoic smirked. "I figured a school girl like you would be smarter than that."

"I'm nineteen and a half I believe. Its easy to forget your day you were born these days." he explained kicking some asphalt on the ground. Stoic wished things could have gone different at the moment. He had no ship and no good excuse to leave.

 

[Felicity Mason]

The girl just blinked at him, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out. Sixteen or not, in many ways she was still a child.

"The police are taking longer than usual. I wonder if my comm is even working...."

She pressed the button again, shook it and sighed. The unconsious man on the ground moaned, moving a little. The blonde sighed, irritated, as she walked back over to him, kicking him hard again a few more times until he went silent again.

"Your name?" she asked, "Boy?"

[member="Stoic"]

 

[Stoic]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

Stoic was wondering why she was kicking the man still. Of course he'd be mad if he were shot but still, he just didn't understand. He soon just forgot about it and worried about the conversation. The police were taking awhile, just more time to pass he supposed. "Maybe your comm is working but the police aren't." he said smirking again.

When she asked for his name, he had to have his manners. "Ladies first."

 

[Felicity Mason]

Mothers police force? Not working? Impossible! It had to be her comm. Honestly, she should have tested it before. What if this were a real emergency? A kidnapping. She'd be long gone. Again. How inconvenient. She gave one last kick to the mans stomach, just to be sure he would remain out cold for a while, then turned around to face the older boy with her arms crossed.

"Felicity," she answered, "Felicity Melodias Mason. Now that you have my full name, I expect the same courtesy from you."

[member="Stoic"]

 

[Stoic]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

Stoic was relieved when she was done kicking the man. Not that he cared what was happening to him, its just that kicking an unconscious man was weird. Kicking a man when he's down is wrong unless he's free to do bad things still.

He smiled hearing her name. "That's a pretty name Miss Felicity." he commented keeping his arms crossed. "Stoic... that's short for Stoic the third. But many just call me Stoic."

 

[Felicity Mason]

"Stoic. The. Third?"
The blonde raised a pale, well shaped eyebrow at the young man and cocked her head to the side.
"So is Stoic your first name? Is 'Third' your family name? And is 'The' your middle name? Your mother had a curious sense of humor, didn't she?"

[member="Stoic"]